Windows 7 Win7 flash card reader driver problem

[beyondcrazy]

Hi all,

Trying to fix a win7 system that has recently stopped working as expected. The system is running win7 home, sp1. Running Avira a/v. Custom built core2duo, 4G, 500G, ati pci-x, etc, fios internet running through a linux router/fw, etc. Relatively new and fast. Works perfect aside from this one problem.

Anyway, this system has a built in flash card reader attached to one of the mobo usb headers. This is one of those "all-in-one" readers that can read sd, microsd, cf, even usb device. Anyway, it's been working fine for months.

Then, the flash card reader stopped working. The drive/power light continued to light up when a card was inserted, but all the sdcards I inserted reported as RAW instead of the actual file system, and the 'My Computer' icons asked to "insert disk" upon being clicked. Disk manager shows the card is inserted, and shows the correct size, but can't see the file system and the associated contents. USB devices plugged into the reader continue to work fine. Cards work fine in other computers.

Messed around, and couldn't get the reader working. Uninstalled the Avira s/w, updated drivers, ran updates, etc, replaced the reader, reboot, still nothing.

Then I moved the reader to another usb header (after the computer was booted, I was careful), and it came back to life. Was working great until I reboot, then it died again. I moved it back to the original usb header, and it came back to life again. ahh. Rebooted again, dead. This time, I disabled the device driver and re-enabled the device in the control panel, and it came back to life again w/o unplugging anything.

So, it seems that whenever the system boots, the drivers won't initialize the card reader correctly, like something is partially interfering. When I either unplug, or, disable/re-enable the device, it works fine until you reboot again.

The reader didn't come w/ a driver...looks like it's using the default drivers from win7. Also, this is happening w/ different readers... I tried another (different make/model) and the behavior is the same. Same behavior w/ admin and non-admin users. I've noticed nothing new in the error logs.

Any ideas? This was working fine for probably 6 months. Something changed in the last few months. Unfortunately, I suspect it's been broken for a while... this system doesn't reboot that often. So not sure what else to check. It's possible it happened when I updated to sp1, but not sure.

Thanks,
Jon

 

[xichael]

I have the exact same problem, though I haven't yet ventured to open up my computer to check if switching headers helps.

I have, however, noticed that there's an "Unknown Device" under USB Controllers in the Device Manager, which I suspect it's the card reader. I'll have to have a look at the make/model and do a search for the drivers. I believe it's one of these Realteks.

Anyway, have a look at your Device Manager and see if you've got any Unknown Devices.

 

[beyondcrazy]

All the devices in my computer are configured and working as expected. I have no drivers marked as yellow or red.

I'll probably see if there is a way to configure the driver to somehow delay initialization.

I'll also see if there exists a third party card reader+driver. I really don't want to reinstall everything just to fix this one reader. I could just use an external reader, but would much prefer to have it internal.

I have the exact same problem, though I haven't yet ventured to open up my computer to check if switching headers helps.

I have, however, noticed that there's an "Unknown Device" under USB Controllers in the Device Manager, which I suspect it's the card reader. I'll have to have a look at the make/model and do a search for the drivers. I believe it's one of these Realteks.

Anyway, have a look at your Device Manager and see if you've got any Unknown Devices.

 

[beyondcrazy]

Re: Win7 flash card reader driver problem: solved

Hey,

I believe I identified the problem. At least, it's working correctly so far.

While reviewing the drivers for the flash card reader, I noticed that there was one pair from MS, and another pair of driver files supplied by Acronis. They make some very good disk tools and backup software, including TrueImage. Anyway, I updated the TI s/w, which updated those drivers, and upon required reboot, all is working correctly now.

I don't remember the exact version -- I think it was TrueImage 12 v6661, to v7371, or something like that.

Thanks,
Jon

Hi all,

Trying to fix a win7 system that has recently stopped working as expected. The system is running win7 home, sp1. Running Avira a/v. Custom built core2duo, 4G, 500G, ati pci-x, etc, fios internet running through a linux router/fw, etc. Relatively new and fast. Works perfect aside from this one problem.

Anyway, this system has a built in flash card reader attached to one of the mobo usb headers. This is one of those "all-in-one" readers that can read sd, microsd, cf, even usb device. Anyway, it's been working fine for months.

Then, the flash card reader stopped working. The drive/power light continued to light up when a card was inserted, but all the sdcards I inserted reported as RAW instead of the actual file system, and the 'My Computer' icons asked to "insert disk" upon being clicked. Disk manager shows the card is inserted, and shows the correct size, but can't see the file system and the associated contents. USB devices plugged into the reader continue to work fine. Cards work fine in other computers.

Messed around, and couldn't get the reader working. Uninstalled the Avira s/w, updated drivers, ran updates, etc, replaced the reader, reboot, still nothing.

Then I moved the reader to another usb header (after the computer was booted, I was careful), and it came back to life. Was working great until I reboot, then it died again. I moved it back to the original usb header, and it came back to life again. ahh. Rebooted again, dead. This time, I disabled the device driver and re-enabled the device in the control panel, and it came back to life again w/o unplugging anything.

So, it seems that whenever the system boots, the drivers won't initialize the card reader correctly, like something is partially interfering. When I either unplug, or, disable/re-enable the device, it works fine until you reboot again.

The reader didn't come w/ a driver...looks like it's using the default drivers from win7. Also, this is happening w/ different readers... I tried another (different make/model) and the behavior is the same. Same behavior w/ admin and non-admin users. I've noticed nothing new in the error logs.

Any ideas? This was working fine for probably 6 months. Something changed in the last few months. Unfortunately, I suspect it's been broken for a while... this system doesn't reboot that often. So not sure what else to check. It's possible it happened when I updated to sp1, but not sure.

Thanks,
Jon